WFUBMC Again Ranked as One of America's Best by U.S. News & World Report

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is listed as one of “America's Best Hospitals” in five categories, in rankings to be published in the 2008 edition of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report. The issue will hit newsstands on Monday, July 14. Wake Forest Baptist is ranked in respiratory disorders, cancer, endocrinology, kidney disease and urology. The Medical Center has previously been ranked in four of the five categories listed. It is the first year that the Medical Center has been ranked for kidney disease. “The national recognition that is associated with a ranking of this type is a testament to our superb physicians and staff,” said Barry Freedman, M.D., section head of Internal Medicine-Nephrology at Wake Forest Baptist. “Since it was founded in 1974, the section on nephrology has rapidly achieved prominence in the care of patients with all types of kidney disease, as well as research involving the clinical and genetic aspects of diseases of the kidneys.” The 2008 guide to “America’s Best Hospitals” includes 170 medical centers nationwide out of a total of 5,453 that were initially evaluated. Only 50 hospitals per specialty are ranked in each of 16 categories. The specialties in which Wake Forest Baptist was ranked, and the rankings, are respiratory disorders (20th), cancer (26th), endocrinology (35th), kidney disease (38th) and urology (48th). The goal of the rankings is to identify medical centers that excel at treating a variety of demanding illnesses within a specialty. “Talent and money alone don’t put hospitals in the rankings,” said Avery Comarow, Best Hospitals editor. Hospitals nationwide are evaluated by a number of factors, including reputation, mortality ratio (actual deaths compared to expected deaths), the availability of advanced technologies, how many patient and community services are provided, the ratio of registered nurses to beds, and the number of patients treated in a particular specialty. Wake Forest Baptist has been ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report since 1993.

About the U.S. News Media GroupThe U.S. News Media Group is a multi-platform digital publisher of news and analysis which includes U.S.News & World Report magazine, www.usnews.com and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Money & Business, Education and Public Service/Opinion, the U.S. News Media Group has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News Media Group’s signature franchises include its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its “America’s Best” series of consumer guides that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, health plans and more.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (www.wfubmc.edu) is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Brenner Children’s Hospital, Wake Forest University Physicians, and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine and Piedmont Triad Research Park. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and has been ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report since 1993. Wake Forest Baptist is ranked 32nd in the nation by America’s Top Doctors for the number of its doctors considered best by their peers. The institution ranks in the top third in funding by the National Institutes of Health and fourth in the Southeast in revenues from its licensed intellectual property.

In The News

On March 20, seniors at Wake Forest School of Medicine learned where they will begin their careers as doctors at Match Day,an annual event at which graduating medical students learn where they’ll be doing their residencies. This year 113 Wake Forest medical students, 59 men and 54 women, matched in 20 specialties.

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